Must Read: Dispelling Myths on the Cost of College

How does the UW use its money? Is higher education a bloated institution that doesn’t deserve more state support?

We understand why people get frustrated with a tuition rate that’s skyrocketed in the last six years, yet the UW football coach gets paid millions, and students live in fancy new dorm rooms. Why can’t the UW just pay its high-level administration less? Wouldn’t it be better to use that money to keep tuition affordable for the middle-class, who don’t get access to promises of free tuition like those in poverty, yet find themselves increasingly pinched out of affording a college education?

The world of higher education funding is confusing – just ask the readers of the Seattle Times.

The Times’ recent front-page article is an important one: High Cost of College: The Truth Behind the Myths. Higher education reporter Katherine Long finds answers to these and other tough tough questions – and the truth on college costs just might surpri
se you. The landscape for higher ed funding has changed drastically in the last six years.

This article demonstrates the need for a system of quality higher education that graduates students who are equipped with skills for today’s workforce, and free from carrying the weight of unsustainable debt on their shoulders. Today’s public higher education system isn’t bloated, but it isn’t delivering for all of Washington’s students either. Cuts to state support created a ripple effect, and this article helps explain how.

Want to help us educate others on this topic? Share this article with your friends via email and/or social media, and try to remember and recite the facts. As we march toward campaign season and another difficult budget session, our ability to defend higher education with real facts will be critical to securing continued support.